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Curtain Raiser

Things We Don’t Understand, Colltalers

The struggle to wrap our minds around multiple, escalating conflicts in the world today can trick us into embracing questionable assumptions, so to cut corners and arrive quickly at a deeply delusional position: that of being the ones dolling out judgement and decisions over the lives of millions.
As unsustainable as such a stand is, is the growing list of things we simply can’t understand. We’re not talking about big themes here, hunger, poverty, even war. Humbly, we’d like to focus today on only three of the many baffling things that we have no grasp of in contemporary America.
We don’t know how can a movement exist for a new armed intervention in Iraq, given not just what’s already happened but what’s actually happening in that scorched region. Second, we have no clue how come polls point to a GOP victory in the November elections, regaining the Senate and keeping the House, when the party’s been in the wrong side of history lately in pretty much every conceivable modern issue.
And, lastly, we confess our ignorance of what made the Obama Administration endorse the use of air guns for seismic exploration of oil and gas in the Atlantic, preparing the way for drilling off the Eastern seaboard, considering the proven damage these blasts cause to marine mammals and, for crying out loud and for the one hundredth million time, our urgent need to stop prospection and use of petroleum-based fuel for energy.
Admittedly, these three, almost randomly selected issues, pale in comparison with what’s going on Gaza, for instance. We’re watching hopelessly killing and destruction verging on genocide, arguably smaller in scale but not unlike what we unfortunately grew used to seeing happening in Africa.
We could be talking about Boko Haram’s relentless campaign of terror in Nigeria and even across the border, specially against women as they’ve just kidnapped the wife of Cameroon’s vice prime minister, which is still horrible but surprising, considering their usual slant towards teenage girls.
Or Ukraine, Russia, Syria, Afghanistan. Never mind war, what about the Ebola outbreak in Serra Leone and surroundings? Under such rationale, whatever our self-delusional fancy strikes, offering our take about every issue known to man, is fair game. But we can’t subscribe to any of that.
Further into this digression, that’s why our choice of themes is as unpredictable as events randomly develop, so not to preach and also to pick our fights as we go. That is, if you can even call it a fight the act of just writing about what goes on around, within the safe confines of one’s secluded cave.
Back to those three puzzles, how can we even discuss another intervention in Iraq, after spending a decade wrecking the country, spilling the blood of over 4,400 Americans, plus hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, besides maiming a combined several hundred thousands, and wasting close to a trillion dollars in costs, by conservative estimates? All to see the ancient conflict between Sunnis and Shiites to be reawaken over and over again.
The invasion of Iraq, based on lies concocted by the Bush administration, its media cronies, and an at least one unquestioning ally, the U.K., was a tragedy not just in terms of human and material costs, but also for squandering the brief world support the U.S. got after the 9/11 attacks, and taking away for good the now discredited perception of us always picking the moral side of human rights and the rule of the law on global issues.
It’s also infuriating when a ghoul such as the previous U.S. vice president, who promoted a criminal, self-serving agenda on behalf of a nation too stunned to act on its own volition, reappears now, unapologetic as ever, craving for the bully pulpit he once occupied with particular cruelty.
Speaking on not being on the human side, how can a number of polls indicate with such conviction that in the midterm elections, the Republican Party is set to regain Senate majority, while keeping its grip on the House, when in the past two decades it’s been almost proud of being blatantly mistaken about every relevant issue of our time, from women reproductive rights, to church and state separation, to corporate greed, to immigration and gay rights.
How can a party that has consistently alienated the interests of over half of the population, women, undermining every hard won right to choose, be a favorite to win any election, let alone that of local representatives? Is it even possible, if most women decide to vote in November?
How can the GOP, having sheltered religious extremism and anti-science movements, denying evolution and man-made climate change, be scientifically ahead on the polls, unless they’ve been conducted among the wealthiest, who are known for not being too keen about voting rights?
And how is it possible for the party of the gun-rights advocates, and anti-immigration, and against ‘big’ government and social inclusion, but that nevertheless, has a massive number of members supported by federal welfare programs, be also the one pro-corporations, unless they are, in fact, artificially fueling much of the discontent with a black president, and articulating behind the scenes, the latest craze, the calls for his impeachment?
Finally, how can a president who has been unfairly chastised for his push towards the development of alternative sources of energy, and who’s faced more than his share of criticism for his stand (even if not much else) against big oil, now, in the last years of his term, allow it to explore potential petroleum fields, miles under the Atlantic surface, with a technology that’s known for being harmful to whales and dolphins?
As with evolution and man-made global warming, the connection between the powerful submarine blasts and the worldwide beaching of whales and dolphins has been thoroughly established, since the Cold War days when the Navy conducted experiments with high frequency sonars.
Despite all that, the Navy plans to intensify its testings in the next five years, which involve the air gun cannons. And now, the door has been opened to even less concerned parties, as the Department of Interior gave clearance to the oil and gas industry to blast their riches away.
We know we’re playing a bit coy here, by using some beaten rhetorical figures to prove a point. But many of us do get flabbergasted on a regular basis by just the sheer enormity of what we don’t know, and following the headline news of the day simply won’t help us to catch up with any of it.
We may sound arbitrary in picking these and not other issues, or even for deciding to say something about them. Considering that we’re aware we’re not adding anything anew, it’s no wonder that each of our readers would have a different set of issues to focus on a daily basis, at any given time.
But what’s behind a renewed push towards invading Iraq yet again may be a desperate need to keep those defense dollars flowing, as simply bombing everyone we don’t like can no longer be a valid foreign policy. And behind polls that seem so apart from the reality on the ground, one has to wonder whether it’s not all part of an effort to move voters in just such a direction. As for how the GOP may stage a win, we still have no clue.
And if we have to overstate our case, nothing is more political than our energy policies. The fact that it’s now, once again, being swayed back to one of oil exploration, along with multiplying fracking projects countrywide, and talk of a nuke rebranding, what we may be witnessing is a troubling trend towards undermining wind and solar energy projects, while doubling down on old choices that assure the dominance of the status quo.
Now, that’s a fight we can take up on and win, with no blood to be spilled but many heads to roll, so to snatch a nation from its profiteering puppet masters, and rescue an ocean for its majestic creatures. Enjoy the last days of July. WC

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6 thoughts on “Curtain Raiser”

I probably shouldn’t respond to this post because it has my blood pressure boiling, and I already have high blood pressure!

I was listening to an interview the other day relating to the current Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The reporter was interviewing a Palestinian family which had one son, seven years old.

After a few minutes, the reporter turned to the son and asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up.” His answer: “A suicide bomber.” Mom and dad smiled, hugged him, and congratulated him.

I think therein lies a good part of the problem in that both sides believe that children are simply the next generation of oppression, suicides, etc., so they see no reason not to aim their bombs at villages and neighborhoods where they might/will kill women and children.

I’m just about finished reading “The Crusades” by Zoé Oldenbourg. I’m not religious at all but I love history. Always wanted to be a history teacher. “The Crusades” occurred in the eleventh century, one thousand years ago. A one-time reading should indicate to every sane, logical, reasoning person that what is going on in the Middle East has been going on for at least a thousand years. Nothing anyone can do is going to put an end to it. Fighting and killing is what their lives are all about, all in the name of God or Allah.

Instead of spending trillions of dollars invading foreign countries and propping up governments which eventually turn against us, let’s invest those trillions in alternate energy so we don’t have to buy their oil. As soon as they don’t have any money, they might be willing to join the rest of the world………… but I seriously doubt it.

Though war may be a never-ending succession of coffins and maimed sons returning from far-off lands for mothers and their families, to a debt-riddled US bankrupted by its military industrial complex and financial robber barons, war is good business, and a great diversion from troubles building up at home.

The hope is to wipe out the debt by fighting out the debt, an old ploy used by kings to rid themselves of the troublesome Jewish moneylenders they owed so much.

The USA has just about completed the first terrible steps towards becoming a military state, ruled by an unelected, largely-anonymous elite. Whoever wins the elections the same clique will still rule from behind closed doors.

WILD HORSES

Harrowing Ride

Audio Portrait

East Village in the 80s through my answering machine. Greeting messages, friendly voices, a recorded ecstasy and many tongues were left on tape for me to remember. Now I'm sharing it all with you. Enjoy it.

World Cup
in S.Africa.
Remember?

Joyce's 'Ulysses'
as Graphic Novel

The illustration above is one of the plates of "Ulysses 'Seen,'" a high quality graphic adaptation by Robert Berry of James Joyce's masterpiece "Ulysses."
For those who never got around to read the long, uninterrupted, controversial June 16, 1904, conversation by Molly Bloom, Stephen Dedalus and others, that the great Irishman envisioned in Dublin, you won't have a better chance to do it.
And for those already familiar with the book form, it's another opportunity to appreciate this enduring work of literature through the eyes of a contemporary artist.
In either case, a few pints of Guinness to go along with it are absolutely optional.

EPITAPH

"Alone we are born, and die alone;
Yet see the red-gold cirrus
Over snow-mountain shine.
Upon the upland road
Ride easy, stranger:
Surrender to the sky
Your heart of anger."

FALSE ALARM

Desmodus

The Artist

Father & Son

Fireball Over Midwest Skies

COLL POLL

The Numbers Are In

Voting stations are closed at this time. The final tally was 13 votes in favor of Coll getting a cellphone and two against it.

MAY 19th IS COLL'S BIRTHDAY & HE WON!

This decision is final. Thank you all for participating. Coll's most heartfelt gratitude goes for the kind souls who voted in favor. For the two heartless hacks who were against it (you know who you are), a SWAP team graciously volunteered to pay you a visit first thing tomorrow morning. Stop by the front desk to request a waiver to present to your teacher, boss or dominatrix. Call your mother. Enroll in a charitable cause. Volunteer at a Soup Kitchen. Run to raise funds for Aids. This is our last broadcast. Please tune in for future promotions. This tape will self-destroy in five seconds. No further ado will come out of nothing. (5/19/2010)

MOTION

CLUTCH

Off-Key Note

Writings, pictures, videos, comments & more, edited by a writer, musician and world citizen living in downtown
New York City.
Acting gigs, a few screenplays and endless clashes with reality.
Brazilian by birth, multilingual by chance, cash strapped as usual.
Agnostic but partial to great soccer. Unmoved by sunsets, campaign speeches, the religious pull or any sure bet.Poor vision and lower back pain. A bottomless pit for a navel. Blue, cats, 9, left, heat and outer space.
Common ground needs not to apply. Not accepting advice at this time.

Naked City

“In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, five hundred years of democracy and peace – and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock.”

Slideshow

LAST WORDS

* - "Let's do it."GARY GILMORE, executed by firing squad in Jan. 17, 1977, by the State of Utah, for murdering a model clerk. He was the last person to be executed in the U.S. in that fashion until June 18, 2010, when Ronnie Lee Gardner was shot to death also by Utah.

Norman Mailer wrote "The Executioner's Song," which he called a "true story," based on the relationship he established with Gilmore, a confessed killer, and the state of affairs of the U.S. in the 1970s. The book doesn't shy away from the horrific facts surrounding his murderous spree, but in a way it tones them down and shifts the focus to the society's possible role as a fertile ground for such deviant behavior.